Back in Our Masks!

This past week has been a hectic one for our cast and crew at the Tempe Center for the Arts (TCA). We spent last Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in rehearsals creating a new show with a new Lion: Jeremiah Neal. As I mentioned in my last blog, Jeremiah took on the task of replacing Scott Jeffers as the Lion. We started working on the music on Tuesday morning, and we had our first run through by Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday we had two dress rehearsals and by Friday we were in front of our first audiences as a new cast. By any standard Jeremiah’s dedication to the task and mastery of the part was an amazing feat to witness. Of course it helped all of us to be back up with the show and moving forward after losing Scott.


Saturday afternoon was particularly special as we had many, many friends attend in a strong show of support. For me, it felt wonderful to hear laughter again all weekend, but Saturday afternoon filled all of us performers with energy and appreciation for our friends. We received flowers, cards of encouragement, cookies, doughnuts and even best wishes from our friends at the Seattle Children’s Theatre, all of which filled the day with joy for our work.


Monday was a much-appreciated day off for the cast and crew. We returned Tuesday morning for a show that included a particularly exceptional mishap on stage. In the play Androcles and the Lion have a fight part of which includes Androcles pulling on the Lion’s tail. Well in this performance the tail decided it didn’t want to be pulled and tore right off of Jeremiah’s costume! The tail became an instant hot potato between us, and Jeremiah had to carry the tail around with him for the rest of the scene, which was quite amusing to me. Once Jeremiah was off stage, the rest of the cast tied the tail onto Jeremiah’s costume with twine. A Lion cannot go on without his tail!


This coming weekend will be our last at the TCA. It will begin with Scott Jeffer’s memorial service on Saturday morning at 10AM in the main theatre. A memorial picnic is planned at the Tempe Town Lake Park from 11:30 AM to 2:00 PM that afternoon. We will be performing Androcles and the Lion at 1PM and 4PM on Saturday, and a final two performances on Sunday afternoon at 2PM. We hope you can join us for any or all of what will certainly be a celebration of life.